People are more involved and connected than ever before. There’s always something going on, and somebody’s posting about it. Are you in, or are you out?

With all this awareness, fear of missing out (FOMO) is rampant. It’s easy to get seduced into thinking that just because we can be involved or included, we should be. Or, that if we aren’t, something bad might happen. The pressure is unbelievable.

Recently I was conducting a Leading Out of Drama Provider Certification and we were reviewing one of the Choices To Move, “Let Go and Move On,” a skill for practicing Compassionate Accountability and moving from Resourcefulness to Persistence on the Compassion Cycle. A participant was explaining the concept in his own words and shared this;

Those who can’t let go and move on often choose to teach others instead.

I like to think I’m good at multitasking, but I’m not. Especially when it comes to how I devote my attention. The joke around my house is that I can only pay attention to one thing at a time. Our family can be watching TV together and I am so focused on the show that I tune out all the distractions. The “distractions” are usually my wife and daughter talking about what’s going on in their lives. Sometimes I even get frustrated with them for interrupting the show we are trying to watch. Consequently I don’t know what my daughter is doing at school and she seems to go to mom first with questions. But I do remember all the details of the TV show!

All these things getting in my way!

Do you ever focus so much on the task at hand that you miss important things going on around you? As a leader, do you ever push so hard to meet a goal that life passes you by or your employees are burning out right under your nose? I bet you viewed those pesky life situations and employee complaints as interruptions, right? You might have even viewed your own body’s complaints (sleep problems, heartburn, tension headaches and back pain) as distractions.

When does a distraction become a symptom of a bigger problem? How do we know we are pushing too hard, missing the forrest for the trees, or creating more damage in our effort to push through?